Dinner Tonight: Gong Bao Chicken

If you've ordered takeout from a Chinese restaurant in your life, you've probably either seen or tasted Kung Pao chicken. And I'll admit that it's a dish I've loved and still enjoy. But the Westernized version is missing the key ingredient that is the star of the authentic Sichuan version, known more commonly as Gong Bao chicken: Sichuan peppercorns. It's their unique, mouth-numbing effect that gives the dish its spicy, warming quality.

Even if you can't find Sichuan peppercorns, the ease and depth of flavor in this dish, from Mighty Spice Cookbook via Leite's Culinaria, are impressive—and none of the other ingredients are hard to find. While the chicken marinates in a mixture of soy sauce and cornstarch, which will eventually thicken the dish, peanuts are toasted to a deep golden brown. From there, it's five quick minutes of cooking while the aromatic ingredients like ginger, garlic, and chiles build lots of flavor very quickly.

Print:

Filed Under:

About the Author

Born and raised in Chicago, one of Blake's earliest food memories was a Chicago-style hot dog with all the toppings. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

As a co-founder of The Paupered Chef And a Serious Eats Contributor since the beginning, Blake has been writing about food regularly since 2006. He currently contributes weekly to Dinner Tonight and writes the Chicago-based column Sausage City. He studied professional cookery at Kendall College in Chicago, and is creative director of Jamco Creative, an outfit in Chicago that specializes in social media marketing.

Previewing your comment:

HTML Hints

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more in the Comment Policy section of our Terms of Use page.